Course Corrections
by AZGirl
Summary: James would be able to implement certain course corrections, little nudges that would help him steer Angus towards a future he'd always imagined for his son. Spoilers for 2.23 MacGyver and MacGyver.


**Disclaimer:** MacGyver is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

 **Spoilers:** 2.23 MacGyver + MacGyver. Spoiler info is also in the author note.

 **A/N:** Based on the cast list for the second season finale, I'd guessed who Mac's father was pretty quickly, which meant that the man had likely been manipulating his son's life for years, something the episode confirmed. That got me thinking of all the possible ways James may have been exerting his influence, and an idea for a possible series of stories about the man course correcting Mac's life was born.

 **ooooooo**

" _I was always in the background, nudging you in the right direction._ "

~~~ James MacGyver to Angus MacGyver, 2.23 MacGyver + MacGyver.

ooooooo

He didn't leave right away. In fact, despite his genius-level intellect, it took him a while to realize it was necessary for him to leave.

After his wife had died, James felt as if his grief was hollowing him out and changing him into something he did not recognize. He was more closed off, more calculating, less tolerant of mistakes, and angry – always angry.

Why did his wife, Ellen, have to die supposedly safe at home, while he almost died on a regular basis in order to help others? Her death was so…ordinary compared to the hundred different violent ways he'd almost met his end.

Why did Angus have to look so much like her? His son was a constant reminder of his loss – the love of his life, who was his escape from the horrors of his work. Everything about Angus was a reminder of her, and he no longer knew how to relate to his boy because of it.

As a result of his inner turmoil, he began taking on more missions, because being with his son only served to stoke his anger – almost to the point where thought he might hurt his son in some way because of it. He spent less and less time with Angus when at home, and on missions with his friend and partner, Jonah, he'd even stopped mentioning his son's name.

Five years after his wife had died, and sometime after Jonah had betrayed him, James reached a tipping point in his anger. He'd come to the decision that he needed to extract himself from the situation lest something unforgiveable happen to his son, either through his doing, his work, or because of Jonah's betrayal.

So he left. James left without saying goodbye, and without allowing himself the final indulgence of celebrating Angus's 10th birthday. He left to continue his work and to continue chasing after his former friend, Jonah, who was now working for himself. Most of all, he left hoping not seeing his son every day would curb his anger.

In theory, removing himself from his son's life should have solved his problem. In practice, he discovered his premise was wrong. He found he couldn't stay away from his son. Or rather, he could stay away, could protect his son from him, but he couldn't stand not being a part of Angus's life, even if it was only from afar.

James considered several options, but in the end decided contacting his father-in-law, who he'd entrusted with taking care of his son, was the best course of action.

Frankly, he was amazed when Harry had agreed to meet with him, but he had that knocked out of him pretty quickly with a well-placed right cross. Though the punch didn't do much damage, he admitted to himself that it was probably deserved, given how suddenly he'd left.

Eventually, he was able to get Harry to listen to him, and they talked for a long time. He explained his reasons for leaving, how he came to regret his decision in part, and revealing why he wanted to meet. It took a while, and a couple more meetings, but James managed to convince Harry to agree to keep him up to date with what was going on in his son's life. In return, he agreed to covertly lend monetary support to his son.

He'd always intended his son to follow in his footsteps, having nurtured Angus's intellect from the day he discovered it existed. Having trained Angus to think outside of the box, to use what was on hand, and to constantly quiz the boy in the hope an unquenchable thirst for knowledge would be cultivated, James realized his abrupt departure had wasted all of that hard work.

With his father-in-law's help, James would be able to not only keep tabs on Angus, but also implement certain course corrections, little nudges that would help him steer his son towards the life he'd always imagined for the boy. The best part of his plan was that it would allow him to keep his son close, yet safe from him and his anger. Hopefully, one day his dream of working with his son would come true.

In his arrogance, his certainty that this course of action was the best, and with all of his intellect, James never once considered how Angus might feel about being abandoned or how his son might react to learning he'd been manipulated for most of his life.

 **ooooooo**

 _The end._

 **ooooooo**

 **A/N:** I have a growing list of more possible ways James could have interfered in Mac's life. Shall I go on?

Until we find out differently, I decided to use the names given to Mac's mother and grandfather in the original series, along with the fact that Harry was Mac's maternal grandfather. I'm also going with the assumption that Mac's grandfather had passed away prior to the first episode.

Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing; remaining mistakes are my fault.

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


End file.
